April 23, 2018

Issue No. 383 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights a stunning new book on generosity—and a poignant tribute (and story) honoring Bob Buford. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and on this page, check out my Top 10 Book Recommendations of 2017, and my Book-of-the-Year pick.

“I love this book. It’s biblical, Christ-honoring, gospel-centered, and full of great transformational stories from around the globe.”

About 10 years ago, Wes Willmer fanned the flames of the generosity revolution (a good thing)—but, frankly (my opinion) it’s still a candle—not a conflagration. Example: way too many year-end appeal letters from nonprofits focus on tax benefits, not Christ’s call to generosity. “Stewardship” sermons are preached when churches lack funds—rather than inspiring people towards biblical generosity as part of their year-round calling as disciples.

PRACTICAL MODELS. Doolittle writes, “At our church, when our pastor, Jimmy, teaches about giving, he sometimes asks those who have a financial need to come forward for prayer. Then he asks those who have extra, and who feel led, to come forward and give them money. It’s risky and a little wild, right there in front of everyone in the church. And it’s a lot like Acts 2:42-47.The family takes care of the family.” (Read pages 111-112 about the guy in the yellow shirt. Wow.)

GLOBAL WISDOM. I’ve never (never!) read a book that includes so many biblical insights from generous givers across the globe. You’ll appreciate the practical giving methodologies and styles of generosity (and the wisdom) from Sophie in Switzerland, Kim in Korea, and Vlad from Central Europe. These people have learned that “Giving is a response to beauty, not an act of duty.” Example:

“Christopher in South Africa helps some of the world’s wealthiest people with their giving. He says, ‘When they come to me, most of them haven’t addressed what does God really want? They still give based on guilt or based on whatever proposals happen to come in.’”

Cameron adds, “Christopher’s friends in South Africa are giving as an act of duty, not as a response to God’s beauty. But Jesus says, ‘It is more blessed to give that to receive’ (Acts 20:35, NIV). More blessed means more happy, more whole, more joyful, more fun.

“Jesus appeals to joy, to delight! This is the language of beauty. This is the motive for our giving.”

ZINGERS.When you hand-deliver this book to colleagues and your “major donors,” warn them—this is a dangerous, convicting book—with uncomfortable one-liners:

• Find Expertise.“Johan in the Netherlands says, ‘You need to find expertise. Too many wealthy people think that because they were good at making money, they’re good at giving money.”

• Passion Projects vs. God Projects. “Many people who have much to give try to start their own institutes or develop a charity that meets their particular passion instead of turning to those who are already experienced in the field. Too often, they are surrounded by a group of acolytes whose paychecks depend on the wealthy person and who, therefore, are afraid to question their boss’ decisions.”

• Fear of Bad Dreams. At a Journey of Generosity event, a giver who had stopped giving after a ministry had misused his gift “…realized that his bitterness toward that experience robbed him of the joy of giving. He said, ‘We have a phrase here in Ethiopia: Fear of bad dreams should not stop you from sleeping.’”

• Destructive Diligence.On givers who create inappropriate obstacles before they give: “It’s important to remember that there’s a fine line between due diligence and destructive diligence.”

CONFESSIONS.Whew. Cameron Doolittle is one transparent guy! As the former CEO of a growing ministry, his focus on growth took him off mission. “When scale became my goal, I was tempted to subtly mask our Christian identity so that non-Christians would give to our work. But God’s presence in our ministry was our power source and our distinctiveness.”

He adds, “In the New Testament, the goal of generosity is not achieving scale; it’s partnering together as givers and recipients in redemption.”

BREAKFAST SKYPES. Cameron, father of four, practices what he preaches about relational generosity. He and his wife, Carolyn, frequently gather their family around a Skype call and enjoy screen-to-screen conversations with ministry leaders that the family supports in Vietnam, Cambodia, Peru, and other countries. “The world feels smaller, God feels bigger, and our passion to give grows.”

FRESH INSIGHTS. In his study of Matthew 6, he reflected on two phrases that changed his thinking. And with his wife’s discerning nudge, he determined that one giving request was about his own need—not the recipient’s needs. (So he declined.) He quotes Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury in the sixteenth century: “What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.”

HOLY CLUB QUESTIONS.Never knew this! “Methodist Church founder John Wesley led a ‘Holy Club’ in the mid-eighteenth century. Among other pursuits, the group had a list of 22 accountability questions they asked one another. One of my favorites is ‘Do I pray about the money I spend?’” (Yikes. You mean I should pray before I click on Amazon?!)

This book is a must-read. Buy several copies and pray how God would use you to fan the flames of the generosity movement, perhaps with the resources of Generosity Path, where Cameron Doolittle serves.

Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Cameron Doolittle says all of us fall into one of three categories: #1. Listening to God is new to me. #2. I listen to God, but not about money and giving. #3. I listen to God about money and giving. Where are you?2) Joy Giving describes a church in Beijing that was blessed with resources—but seemed to have a blind eye to community needs. Keung, a giver in the church, noted “The church wasn’t a conduit for giving; it had become a reservoir.” Are we appropriately balancing cash reserves with the mission God has called us to? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Peter Drucker and Bob Buford

Bob Buford impacted my life. When Bob and Fred Smith invited me in 1986 to a Leadership Network week-long gathering with Peter Drucker and 30 Christian leaders in the Colorado mountains—that experience literally changed my leadership life and my spiritual life. The Drucker Bucket is one small result.

“As Bob has always done when facing tough business decisions, he began asking advice from close friends and advisors. Bob went to see Mike Kami, a strategic business consultant. Mike asked Bob one simple question, ‘What’s in the box?’ He explained that before he could help Bob set the course for the second half of his life, Mike needed to know what was absolutely the most important thing in Bob’s life. He asked Bob to draw a box on a piece of paper.

“’I’ve been listening to you for two hours, and I can’t help you unless you put one thing in the box. It is either money or Jesus Christ.’ One symbol, one passion—Bob had to choose. When Bob placed that little cross in the middle of the box, he felt he was saying to God, ‘I’m yours. From now on, nothing will be as important to me as You.’ That decision launched Bob into his parallel career.”

Bob, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As a board member and raving fan of Christian Community Credit Union (a non-profit), we proudly list the credit union as our top pick for serving your financial services needs.

April 18, 2018

Issue No. 382 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting recommends a bestselling book on leadership and self-deception. I just bought 10 more copies. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and on this page, check out my Top 10 Book Recommendations of 2017, and my Book-of-the-Year pick.

Leadership and Self-Deception

Maybe…this might be my most important book recommendation for you this year.

So my wife, Joanne, read it first this weekend—and her praise was effusive. Then I read it. (Am I the only leader that missed this gem?) I should have read it years ago (and my former staff and family would agree). If you haven’t read the book—or leveraged the insights for your organization or family—drop everything and read Leadership and Self-Deception. Here’s why:

Reason #1: Self-deception is rampant.You don’t need this book to recognize how other leaders are blind to their own self-deception—but it will give you handles (and a practical metaphor) for understanding the blindness.

Reason #2: I am blind to my own blindness.Whew. (Did I mention “convicting” and serious gut-checking?) While trying to figure out the sin and self-deception in other leaders, I wondered, how did the authors insert mirrors on every convicting page?

And as Scott Rodin reminds us in The Steward Leader, “If I could put one Bible verse on the desk of every pastor and every Christian leader in the world, it would be this: ‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us’ (1 John 1:8).”

Reason #3: The “box” metaphor.Powerful. Trust me—read and study this book with your team (and family) and you’ll be using the “box” metaphor within an hour. The second edition of Leadership and Self-Deception includes a short section on how to maximize the book’s impact. The authors list stunning (stunning!) examples of how the principles have transformed organizations (nonprofit and for-profit) and even police departments. In Japan, a word-of-mouth movement has launched “out-of-the-box” clubs.

The business novel/fable/story format makes for an easy read (about three hours) with memorable characters, but—warning—it’s not a comfortable read.

Reason #4: Faith-based alignment. While the principles of Leadership and Self-Deception are not faith-based per se—they actually are. For my readers who are Christ-followers, you’ll salivate at the opportunity to integrate Leadership and Self-Deception with biblical wisdom.

Reason #5: Refreshing humility—no author names!Really! Published by The Arbinger Institute, these leaders practice what they preach—and share the credit for this book with all of their team members, including non-writers. Hence—author names are not revealed. (And note: the book has sold over one million copies.)

So, could this book help you and your leadership team? Yes! From the authors: “…the myriad ways in which people have used this book and its ideas fall within five broad areas of application: “1) applicant screening and hiring, 2) leadership and team building, 3) conflict resolution, 4) accountability transformation, and 5) personal growth and development.”

Special thanks to Jim Canning for sending me this book several years ago.

Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) In the “how to use this book” addendum, the authors note that “Many organizations utilize the book in their hiring practices. Prospective employees are required to read the book as part of the application process.” What’s the upside of inspiring applicants to understand and buy into your organization’s culture before they join the team?2) Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People(30 million sold), highly recommends this book. Pop Quiz!Habit 5, from Covey, is: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Now…write down the other six. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tools and Templates for Effective Board GovernanceInsights from Mastering the Management Buckets

The book, originally created in binder format for the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s board enrichment programs, is 219 pages and includes a password to a webpage with downloadable templates (going live on April 24, 2018).

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As a board member and raving fan of Christian Community Credit Union (a non-profit), we proudly list the credit union as our top pick for serving your financial services needs.